FIGURE 2.

PCPE2 deficiency exacerbates atherosclerosis despite elevated HDL cholesterol levels. A, representative aortic root sections stained with Oil Red O from 12 weeks atherogenic diet-fed LDLr^−/−, LDLr^−/− PCPE2^−/−, and LDLr^−/−, apoA-I^−/− mice. B and C, quantification of the atherosclerotic lesion area as a percentage of the total aortic area (B) and the total lesion area in μm² (C). D, representative aortic root sections stained with fluorescently labeled antibodies to CD68, a macrophage marker, from 12 weeks atherogenic diet-fed LDLr^−/− mice, LDLr^−/−,PCPE2^−/− mice, and LDLr^−/−, apoA-I^−/− mice. E and F, quantification of the macrophage content was performed by measuring CD68+ staining over background as a percentage of the total lesion area (E) and of the total lesion area in μm² (F). Data represent the mean ± S.D. of n = 10 male mice/group. Different letters indicate statistical significance at p < 0.05. The fluorescence background threshold was set to the intensity of sections receiving the fluorescently tagged secondary antibody but no CD68 primary antibody.